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Scaling up charter management organizations: understanding how policies, people and places influence growth

SCALING UP CHARTER MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS:
UNDERSTANDING HOW POLICIES, PEOPLE AND PLACES INFLUENCE
GROWTH
by
Michelle B. Nayfack
___________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Michelle B. Nayfack

In recent years charter schooling has become a mainstream reform strategy supported by a wide array of political and education-related stakeholders. More recently nonprofit networks of charter schools labeled Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) have emerged as a way to increase the impact of the charter movement and combat the organizational challenges faced by stand-alone charter schools. Despite the fact that CMOs are rapidly growing, both in number and in size, little is known about how these organizations approach growth.; This study utilized a qualitative research design that incorporated a national sample of 25 CMOs to investigate how CMOs approached growth. The goal of this study was to identify the array of factors influencing the growth process and to better understand how CMOs responded to these influences.; Analysis revealed that a number of environmental, organizational and sociocultural factors were influencing CMO growth. Based on organizational needs, local and state policy contexts, and the availability of resources, CMOs developed new growth targets, or they revisited existing ones. These targets, in turn, influenced internal growth planning styles that were either premeditated or more evolving.

SCALING UP CHARTER MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS:
UNDERSTANDING HOW POLICIES, PEOPLE AND PLACES INFLUENCE
GROWTH
by
Michelle B. Nayfack
___________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(EDUCATION)
December 2010
Copyright 2010 Michelle B. Nayfack